Palmer United Party unlikely to get same number of staff as the Greens

Clive Palmer has warned legislation could pass the Senate slowly if his party's three senators-elect are not given extra staff.

The Palmer United Party's Glenn Lazarus from Queensland, Jacqui Lambie from Tasmania and Dio Wang from Western Australia will join the Senate from July next year.

The PUP has also struck a deal with Motoring Enthusiast Party senator-elect Ricky Muir, forming a powerful voting bloc.

Mr Palmer says he is concerned about the "volume of work".

"If we don't get any resources you can well imagine it will take longer for the three people to do their job and maybe you'll only get one bill through a year," he told the ABC's Lateline program on October 9.

"You've got three senators having to consider the whole weight of legislation from the House of Representatives, so we'll be seeking from the Prime Minister the same level of resources that the Greens had in doing the same job," he said.

The claim: Clive Palmer sayshe will ask the Prime Minister for the same level of resources as the Greens had in the last government.

The verdict: When the Greens held the balance of power in the Senate, they negotiated 18 extra staff. With only three senators, it is unlikely Mr Palmer would be given that many extra staff.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says: "There is a standard convention and we will adhere to the standard convention when it comes to staffing for minor parties and independents."

ABC Fact Check investigates what the standard conventions are for senator staffing levels and assesses whether Mr Palmer is likely to receive same staffing levels as the Greens had in the last government.

The handbook defines a minor party as one with at least five members elected to the parliament.

It says the Prime Minister "at his or her discretion" allocates personal employee positions to the leader of a minority party.

The leader can then allocate these personal staff to any member of his or her party.

In 2008 the then Senator Brown negotiated 10 personal staff for the Greens. This was increased to 13 by 2010, a Greens spokesperson told ABC Fact Check.

The Greens were able to secure an extra five staff when Julia Gillard was negotiating to form government, bringing their personal staff to 18.

So when the Greens held the balance of power in the Senate in the last parliament, their total staffing - electoral and personal - was around 58.

Discretion of the Prime Minister

Palmer United Party senators cannot assume the same treatment as the Greens because the party does not have the numbers to be granted "minority party" status, even if Mr Palmer wins the recount for the lower house seat of Fairfax.

The PUP senators-elect appear to fall under the category of independent senators and members, needing to negotiate directly with the prime minister for personal staff.

The Senators and Members Entitlements Handbook says personal employee positions are allocated at the discretion of the Prime Minister.

The personal staffing levels for senators-elect Mr Lazarus, Ms Lambie and Mr Wangwill be at the complete discretion of Mr Abbott.

Independent staffing levels

There is an historical precedent when it comes to independent senators arguing for more staff.

In 1996 when John Howard came to power, the then Senator Brown said: "I also by the way told him [Senate Leader Robert Hill] that I expected to have a staff establishment which would be equal to the job."

"The Democrats have five staff per head; I think the Greens who are there in smaller numbers and therefore are under bigger pressure to cover the range of issues, and Senator Harradine, should be at least equivalently staffed," then Senator Brown said.

He also warned that without the "wherewithal" to get through the legislation it could "mount up".

Fact Check asked Mr Brown and former independent Brian Harradine whether they did receive extra staff, but both former senators declined to comment.

When Nick Xenophon, independent Senator for South Australia,was elected to the Senate in 2008, he was allocated two personal staff by the then prime minister Kevin Rudd. This was in addition to his four electoral staff, bringing his total to six staff.

He says he was offered a staff increase in 2010 by the then prime minister Julia Gillard, when she was trying to form minority government. Instead he negotiated pay rises for existing staff.

Other key independent members of parliament, Tony Windsor, Rob Oakeshott and Bob Katter, each negotiated three personal staff with Ms Gillard, bringing their staff numbers to seven each.

The verdict

When the Greens held the balance of power in the Senate in the last parliament they had nine senators and one member in the House of Representatives. They successfully negotiated 18 more staff than their entitlement.

With only three senators, it is unlikely the Palmer United Party would be given that many extra staff. But in the end, Mr Palmer's staffing levels are completely at Mr Abbott's discretion, and when Senate votes are needed prime ministers have shown an unswerving capacity to be pragmatic.

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